A new company out of Finland called Bobo Holm has found a creative use for discarded skateboards: Surfboards!! While there's only one in existence, the creator Bjorn Holm sees it as a new adventure in surfboard manufacturing. The project with his recycled skateboard surfboard began as his bachelor thesis from design school in Finland. The project's name is RETO, which is short for REcycle for TOmorrow. (In Swedish dialect, RETO actally means that "something is broken" or in really bad shape.)
Ghetto Juice Editor Skip Snead interviews…
Ghetto Juice: OK, Bjorn. How did you come up with the idea to build a surfboard using recycled skateboards?
Bjorn Holm: I have been a skateboarder since I was a kid, and I wanted to use broken skateboards and the whole recycle aspect in my thesis. At first I was planning to make sunglasses from broken decks, and back then (in 2011) it had not been done but I later found out that the Vuerich brothers in Spain had done it. Later on it hit me that I wanted to make a hollow surfboard from broken decks since I have been really interested in surfboard building for many years. So I went for it.
G+J: Where did you get all the broken skateboards?
B+H: I knew that I could get a lot of broken boards from friends, and I started with my own boards that I have saved, then from my friends, and then I went on road trip around Finland, to different indoor skateparks to collect broken boards. I collected around 80 boards that day. It was a difficult time for me since nobody had done anything like it, so I had nobody to ask or give me tips. Every week was a big question mark, but I managed to figure everything out day by day. It was stressful since we had a deadline, but I learned so much, and had so much fun in the process. All in all it took me four months to build the big puzzle.
G+J: What kind of feedback have you had and have you had any pros surfing on them yet or just yourself?
B+H: Oh man, it's been crazy. I kept it a secret until it was done so nobody would steal my idea and make it before me. When it came out it went all over the world; blogs, webpages, magazines, TV programs, surf festivals, etc. I've been in Portugal (Ericeira) and Australia (Byron Bay) with the board for different festivals.
G+J: What does the future hold for your company?
Making another surfboard … I don't know. Not at this point. It's so much work, like a lot. If somebody would order one, timewise it would cost a fortune to make, and it is so unique. I have been thinking about another board, though, and I would like to make a shortboard or a longboard some day, but we have to see what happens. There is only one board like this in the world at the moment.
G+J: Would you sell the one you made, and if so, how much would you charge?
B+H: The price would be very juicy since I only have one. But if the price is right I could consider making another one just for them. But the one I made, the first one, is not for sale.
Posted by: Ghetto Juice at: 19 Nov 2014 00:24
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